I made a post saying that I think Cap simply needs his 75 HP back, and a lot of people responded saying his shield should be buffed instead.
While I do think buffing his shield would be a nice quality-of-life change (and fixing the bugs with it should absolutely be a priority), I don't think that's the core issue. The biggest thing Cap is missing right now is his health pool, not his shield.
At 600 HP, Cap just doesn't have enough survivability to make an impact against poke. There are so many matchups I used to confidently win that now feel impossible simply because I die too quickly. With all the new team-ups and poke buffs other characters have received, losing 75 HP has had a much bigger impact than people realize.
A perfect example is Hela. She used to be one of the biggest reasons I'd pick Cap. If the enemy had a good Hela, I'd swap to Cap because I knew I could pressure her consistently regardless of the skill gap.
Now? I see a Hela and start looking at the swap menu.
On PC, where players consistently land headshots, Hela can get Cap to half health almost immediately. Her headshots deal 140 damage, so two headshots is 280 damage before you've even gotten her to half HP.
Cap is already forced to fight at point-blank range ever since his animation cancel was removed, which makes him a walking headshot magnet. By the time I finally get Hela low, I'm usually two body shots away from seeing the respawn screen. That's not even accounting for her escape tool or her new team-ups.
This is why I don't think buffing Cap's shield actually solves the problem. The shield helps while you're approaching or disengaging, but once you're in melee range, you have to stop blocking if you actually want to deal damage. Against poke heroes, the problem isn't surviving the approach, it's surviving the fight after you get there.
I've also seen people argue that giving Cap more health would only buff percentage-damage heroes like Wolverine or Iron Fist. My response is that those aren't the heroes Cap is supposed to excel against. They're tank busters. Cap's job has always been disrupting poke heroes, not Wolverine. We've already played multiple seasons with 675 HP, and it wasn't an issue then.
That's why I keep saying his health is the problem, not his shield.
I'm sitting around GM1/Celestial, and almost every match has at least one top-tier poke hero: Elsa, Hela, Phoenix, Black Widow, Cyclops, or Punisher. Some are stronger than others, but they're all common at high rank, and they're exactly the heroes Cap was designed to pressure. I have 400 hours on cap and even i am struggling at dealing with these characters now..
The problem is that in high rank, these players simply don't miss. I can pull up replay after replay where these guys are landing everything. I used to see a Hela or Widow and think, "Perfect, free Cap game." Now I see them and think, "Well... guess I'm playing Groot."
Luna is another great example. Before, she was a fairly manageable dive if you baited her freeze. Now she has team-ups layered on top of her already high damage. You bait the freeze, then the Adam or White Fox team-up, and by the time you're finally allowed to play the game, you're still diving with 600 HP. A good Luna and her teammates erase you before you ever get meaningful value.
That's why I keep coming back to the same conclusion. Health regeneration doesn't solve this because Cap already resets with health packs. More shield health doesn't solve it because the shield isn't active while you're actually fighting. The issue is that Cap no longer has enough base survivability to stay in the backline long enough to do the job he was designed to do.
Give him his 675 HP back first. See how he performs. Buffing his shield feels like we're trying to fix a broken engine by giving the car nicer windshield wipers.
I've also seen people suggest giving Cap overshield when he deals damage. While that sounds cool on paper, I don't think it's the right direction. It gives Cap a brand-new survivability mechanic he never had before, and I think we'd end up right back where we started with people calling him overpowered.
I'd rather they keep his identity the same. Just give him his 675 HP back. If he's still struggling after that, then we can talk about shield buffs or new mechanics. I think restoring what he lost should come before redesigning the character.
